


First Contact

by OrangeCitrin



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: F/M, Naval ships, Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Freeform, Post-Game, Societal shifts, War, battles, slow build-up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-19 22:43:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11323233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeCitrin/pseuds/OrangeCitrin
Summary: When the burden of mankind batters this world, how must Pokémon react and adapt to the sometimes bleak nature of humanity, even once calamity has been averted? How can creatures who until recently had never seen the power of the rifle be eventually entrusted with the aircraft, or God forbid the atom? Threats to the existence of this world once came from natural phenomenon or from Pokémon with incredible power and dark intentions, but as humans, true humans, and all of their dangerous peculiarities take hold among the everyday Pokémon, it is beginning to look as if our own greatest enemy is ourselves. If the state is now the world, then the state is upside down.





	1. New News

As sunlight crept over the horizon, the quiet coastal settlement of Treasure Town began to stir. The apprentices and explorers of Wigglytuff’s Guild were, as always, the first to rise. No one knew this better than the Bayleef who reluctantly pushed herself up from a mass of straw that would suffice as bedding. She grinned to herself as she took notice of the unusually quiet ocean, at least two hundred paces below her home, which was situated neatly inside Sharpedo Bluff. The bluff itself was named for the face and maw of the Pokémon it resembled, so maybe it was fate that her home and the unofficial base of team Jaws was inside the mouth of a vicious predator, just behind its teeth. It had been thirteen long and somewhat uneventful years since the Bayleef had prevented the world from becoming paralyzed, and twelve since the malevolent Pokémon known as Darkrai had attempted to shroud the world in darkness and nightmares. She and her exploration team had become legends on the Grass Continent and even beyond, though younger explorers had taken up the torch from them since the victory against Darkrai. After all, it was not this Bayleef, her team, nor their Guild who had prevented all the world’s Pokémon from turning to stone and prevented the planet itself from hurtling into the Sun. But that was years ago, and some part of her wanted a new challenge to present itself.

“Why do you gaze at the water awestruck like that every single morning?” A cheeky voice behind her inquired. “What could possibly be so interesting about that ocean? Everything that can be mapped has already been mapped and there’s nothing down there.”

The Bayleef sighed and turned to see her partner in rescuing and exploration, a recently evolved Feraligator, with a makeshift cast present on his left arm, sitting up on his clump of straw, looking at her with a grin so massive it could probably rip his head in half. Seeing this, the Bayleef giggled. “Oh hush, you. I just find it… relaxing, that’s all,” the grass-type replied calmly, as was her nature, but there was a hint of joviality in her words. “Now go back to sleep, Jawey, you need your rest.”

“Oh all right, just try to be careful out there, the last thing we need is for both of us to be out of commission.” The voice replied. 

Jawey was an unoriginal nickname she had given the Feraligator, then a Totodile, when they were children. The name caught on with the other apprentices at the guild and eventually the entire town started to call him that. Jawey preferred that others call him by his human name, but he made an exception for the Bayleef, who was his ally and best friend. 

As her partner rolled his eyes and settled back down in his bedding, she took a closer look at his damaged arm. “You really shouldn’t have gotten that Machamp cross with you. This will take at least another three weeks to heal.”

Having turned back over on his side with his back to her, Jawey only spoke in reply, “Don’t you worry about me Chik, just take Lombre with you to the guild to do another rescue job.” As the two said their goodbyes for the day, Chik the Bayleef hesitated at the door that led out to the top of the bluff. 

“Oh, right,” she remembered, “at the watering hole yesterday, Bibarel was telling me about some encounter he had during a recent outing with the Guild.” 

Immediately, Jawey’s head peaked up to look at her with interest. Things had been quite slow and dull in Treasure Town, and any exciting piece of news or a new mystery was paramount for breaking the monotony, especially since Jawey had been trapped here for the last month due to his injuries. 

“He was talking about some kind of strange, gray flying-type he and some of the other guild members saw above Oran Forest. Apparently it was moving way faster than anything we’ve ever heard of, so it couldn’t have been a Skarmory. Everyone’s been talking about it and they’re saying the forest is haunted, but I’m positive there is something far more mysterious than a few ghost-types at work.” 

She paused for a second before continuing, proudly reflecting on how far she had come not just as an explorer, but as a person, since she had met Jawey; little more than a decade ago, Chik would have been too afraid to investigate any strange rumors such as this. 

“I’ll bring Lombre with me to investigate, if that’s alright with you Jawey, you’re team leader after all.” It took less than a second of pondering before the Feraligator responded with a whole-hearted “Yes”. With Jawey’s blessing, Chik left to meet up with the trustworthy third-in-command of Team Jaws, Lombre.

To find the jolly lily pad Pokémon, Chik did not have to look far. Anyone who knew Lombre would easily be able to recall that her favorite place in the entire world was Spinda’s Café, recently renovated to have a floor built above the old entrance. Chik approached the wooden structure, which was only completed earlier that year, to find a group of Pokémon crowding around Bibarel, who appeared to be standing on top of a crate excitedly explaining something in his rural accent. Chik noticed Lombre near the back of the crowd, and nestled in next to her. 

“What’s going on?” Chik questioned Lombre.  
Lombre hurriedly replied without looking, “Well, seems as if toothy here saw that steel bird again. I don’t believe a damn word of it; seems like every other month he’s come up with some new tale.” 

She wasn’t wrong. Just last winter, Bibarel had claimed that a monster had raided Treasure Town’s food supply. It had turned out to be Bibarel himself sleepwalking. There were countless other examples of his exaggerations, Chik thought, but she wanted to seize the opportunity to have a day without having to hear the shrill voice of Chatot, the Guild’s second-in-command, bark at her. At some point, she would have to explain to him what Team Jawey was up to for today, but that could wait. For now, with trained ears, she listened to the naïve Bibarel speak. 

“By golly, it was swifter than any ‘a them Skarmories or Swallow, I swear! It roared too and… an- oh yeah! It also spout fire from its behind and left a trail of steam or smoke behind it.” Bibarel paused to catch his breath after his long diatribe, before waving around his stubby little arms and continuing. “And last week, when I went south to visit my family, we heard these strange noises at night, I reckon it sounded like chopping, or like the fists of a Machoke or Hitmonchan punchin’ the air rapidly. It’s really hard to explain, but I reckon somethin’ weird and sinister is goin’ on.”  
After his rambling speech ended, a roaring voice from the crowd, which Bayleef deduced must have come from Exploud, one of the guild members, challenged Bibarel’s assertions. “AND WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE YOU? I WAS WITH YOU IN ORAN FOREST AND I DIDN’T SEE ANYTHING!” 

Bibarel looked as if he was going to rebuttal, but hesitated, instead scanning the crowd and finally settling on Bayleef. “Hey look, it’s her! It’s Chik from Team Jaws! She’ll vouch for me!” Bibarel eyed Chik expectantly, awaiting a response. 

All eyes turned to her. They all knew who she was. She was famous in Treasure Town and an experienced explorer. Her opinion on the matter would have real weight to it, the Bayleef thought, but if she was indeed going to publicly support Bibarel’s claims, she would have to tread carefully, for if Bibarel was wrong or was simply lying, she would look like a buffoon for believing him. Or would she? If anything, this would only make Bibarel look worse, and Chik seem like a saint, having given one last chance to Bibarel to prove himself while also taking time from important Guild work to investigate the sighting. Her mind was made up.

“Well, none of what you described sounds familiar to me, and I’ve been all over the world. I cannot think of an explanation for the sounds you and your family heard, and if what you’re saying is true, then I’ve never seen or heard of something that could move so quickly.” 

There were some whispers from the crowd, but no one interrupted her, so she continued.

“Actually, after you told me about this yesterday, I was planning on bringing Lombre here along in exploring Oran Forest today to see if anything is off.”  
For a brief second out of the corner of her eye, she saw an expression on Lombre’s face that could only be described as a mixture of surprise and reluctance, but Chik would deal with that once they got out of the Café and away from the crowd.

“So, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be taking our le—”

“And what is this I hear! SHIRKING YOUR WORK TO INVESTIGATE THE RAMBLINGS OF OUR VILLAGE IDIOT!” An outraged voice squawked from behind them.

They all knew who it was. Normally, even when he was annoyed or frustrated, Chatot would never outright insult somebody, so he must have been livid. Bayleef and Lombre knew that this was going to be a long morning.


	2. Letters to a Faraway Place

Jawey awoke in a confused stupor. After rubbing his eyes and stretching out a bit, he felt something hugging, clinging would probably be a better word, his arm. It was his cast. As he started to remove it to reveal a perfectly fine, if a little stiff, arm, he took a moment to reflect on his current predicament. It had pained him to lie to his best friend and partner, he thought, but in this case, the ends justified the means. He had to pull some verbal gymnastics to persuade Blissey and Chanssey to keep quiet about his false aliment. In the end, however, he could not risk having another one of these odd dimensional screams occur during an expedition in the middle of Arceus knows where. 

Usually, these were triggered by his interaction with an object, and would allow him to see into the future, but here? He had no idea what he was seeing, and these incidences seemed to occur randomly. He needed to find out what these visions meant. Smiling and looking over towards his desk, he was quite hopeful he would get an answer soon.

After grabbing a few berries for breakfast, Jawey didn’t bother to check which ones, he took his seat in front of the desk, and, after sticking his hand behind a part of it, retrieved several very important letters, one of which he was in the process of writing. To refresh his memory, he once again glanced over the note on the top of the stack, which was addressed to him.

 

To my colleague in exploration John,  
So far, I have not quite been able to pin down everything you have seen in your visions, but I have been able to determine to good confidence that the figures you saw do not correlate with any Pokémon in the old legends…  
That was all he had to read to gain the motivation to continue his own research. And today was the day. It was the day he was going to covertly investigate what were rumored to be the ruins of a human structure on the Air Continent. He had no time to waste. He began penning a new letter, completely forgetting about the one he was nearly finished writing, addressing it to the Pokémon he had contacted for an insight to the screams in the first place. The nearly completed letter he had chosen to ignore for now was a sort of dream and dimensional scream journal he had started to his new associate, a researcher across the waves who specialized in human studies, among other things.

 

To my Dear Friend and Associate Dr. Mawile,  
My latest documentation of these recent dimensional screams shall be attached with this note. I am due to begin my investigation of the human building in Air

His writing was cut off by the emergence of a voice from the ceiling behind him. 

“Mr. Jaws, Mr. Jaws!”

Immediately Jawey, or John as he preferred, recognized who had snuck up behind him. Who else would call him Mr. Jaws? He supposed the kid’s father was just trying to teach him to respect his elders, but it did come off a little disrespectful. He turned up to face the Diglett. Since they had met, Diglett had barely aged at all, perhaps only three years in all this time compared to how quickly Jawey had aged.

“Didn’t your father teach you that it’s rude not to knock?” He inquired, a bit thrown off by the concerned look on Diglett’s face. Jawey then realized that he was not wearing his “cast,” so if he was just coming to check up on the supposedly injured Feraligator, he would be in deep trouble.   
“What is it boy? I’m in the middle of some work.” He replied, trying his hardest not to sound callous.

“You need to come quick! Right now! My dad and Toxicroak are right near here, just follow me! They saw some things over the—” 

Before Jawey could even ask for more details, the overexcited ground-type had skirted back up through the top of Sharpedo Bluff to the surface, where his father, Dugtrio, and his friend Toxicroak were waiting. All three were current guild members who had witnessed many unbelievable happenings in their lifetimes, (with the exception of Toxicroak, who had graduated years ago and was on vacation from working for the Expedition Society on the Water Continent) and if they had seen something that Jawey had to come see while he was supposed to be recovering, it must have been big. 

 

Big it was. Or, rather, they were.

“Should we alert the guild?” Jawey asked.

“It’s your call, boss.” Toxicroak calmly replied.

“What are those things?” Diglett piped up. “Dad, are they ships?”

His father replied, his three heads unmoving, “Son, I have never once seen any ship or anything built by non-legendary Pokémon nearly that massive.”

Gazing from the right side of Sharpedo Bluff, one could easily see at least three, no, four large vessels, the two smallest of which were the same size, with the largest two having quite the difference in heights. Jawey observed that the largest one, located to the left of and behind one of the small ships, seemed mostly flat. While Jawey tried to wrap his head around how any ships got there without sails (Wailords, maybe?) or if they even were ships, he noticed that in the few minutes they had been standing around gawking, they had been inching closer by the second.

“You three stay here, I’ll go tell the Guildmaster.”

There were no words or grunts of acknowledgement. Jawey rushed back into Treasure Town and bolted towards the Guild. Could these have been those “seaborne crafts” or ships from his scream? He needed to figure out what these recent strange happenings meant.

It had been roughly 45 minutes. Yet here she was, still taking the brunt of one of Chatot’s never-ending diatribes. While the Music Note Pokémon continued his rant, Chik questioned herself why Team Jaws had kept themselves under the overbearing wing of Wigglytuff’s Guild instead of establishing themselves independently and actually keeping most of what they earned. She made a mental note to herself to question Jawey about it later. In the meantime—  
“Hey, PAY ATTENTION HERE YOU SSS-QUA DELINQUENT! I’m still disciplining you here! SQUAK!” In a barrage of feathers, the Guild’s second in command brought Chik back into reality, much to her dismay.   
“I must say,” Chatot continued, “I e- expected a team with your pedigree to act far more m-maturely. Don’t forget, the ma-main reason you’re where you are today is due to t-the Guild’s generosity.”

The old bird had developed a bit of a stutter in the past year or so; his age was showing more day by day. Before he had a chance to continue further, however, Chik interceded.

“Excuse me Chatot, but do you not think that giving our team a bit more freedom in our explorations would be for the best? We have years of experience, as you know, and there are still plenty of mysteries left to uncover on these continents that our scholars can’t answer.”

Chatot was quick to reply.

“Well, possibly, but that would be the Guildmaster’s decision, not ours. And from what you and your lily pad friend over there have told me, you were acting on a rumor.” He pointed accusatorially at Lombre with his wing. The Jolly Pokémon simply rolled her eyes in retort.

“If you had actually r-reesearched this topic more in advance and had a r-reeasonable amount of confidence that you would find something of interest to the great good or to the presser-rvation of the heritage of all Pokémon, then I would have allowed such an investigation. However, this was just a ru-umor, and nothing more.”  
Chik was about to remind Chatot that mere rumors had aided their team’s adventures in the past, but was interrupted by the sound of musical humming emanating from a door behind Chatot. 

“Oh, it sa-sa-seems the Guildmaster has awoken. Just wait until he hears that SQUAK you’ve been disobeying orders and shirking your work!” 

He turned around before he paused, sighing. “I su-uuppose I may be wrong in being this harsh on you. After all, young love can envelop a person. Why, I remember when I was your age, it had m-me seduced with its vices and warmn-ness. Oh yes, how is he, anyway. Ha-as his a-arm gotten better yet?” Chatot turned his head back to Chik, smiling for once.  
A flustered Chik scrambled to respond. “We’re not with each other that way! I-I don’t know what you think you are saying, but-“

As Chatot was about to open the doors, they swung open in front of him, sending him flying backward and ending what would have been an awkward conversation. Bayleef smiled to herself. The Guild never had this problem with the old doors, but these ones were heavier and thicker for security reasons, and sometimes the Guildmaster would accidentally bump Chatot with them. Lombre was not as subtle in her bemusement, and as Chik looked to her comrade, she could see that Lombre could barely contain her laughter. ‘Serves him right’ she mouthed to the Bayleef.

After Chatot got up (which he did so quickly Chik did not even notice), the three Pokémon turned their attention, or rather stood at attention, to the Guildmaster, Wigglytuff, the Guild’s namesake and leader. 

“Hello friendly friends!” The man hadn’t changed in all his life. “I’ve heard a lot of commotion out here! What’s wrong Chatot? Is somebody being a big ol’ meanie?”

“No sir,” Chatot replied firmly, “but one of our most skilled apprentices neglected their o-obligations to the G-Guild. I believe that s-strict disciplinary action must be enforced, even if they are our best.” Chatot once again pointed his wing, this time at Chik.

Chik struggled to reply before Guildmaster Wigglytuff could make a judgement.

“Sir? I, um, we were going to investigate some credible reports about mysterious Pokémon in Oran Forest. I know we should have asked for permission first, but-” 

“CREDIBLE? A-ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Any amount of friendliness Chatot had been trying to resurrect with his playful prodding about Jawey and Chik’s relationship flew out the window. 

“C-Credible means backed up with evidence, not s-spouted from the mouth of a Pokémon who still hasn’t graduated in more than a decade!”

“Chatot…” the Guildmaster interjected, looking disappointedly into Chatot’s eyes. “That’s not a very nice thing to say, especially considering all that Bibarel has done for the Guild. Who pulled your head out of that tiny barrel of Oran jam during Toxicroak’s graduation party?”

Chatot winced, remembering that embarrassing episode.  
“Bibar-rel…” Chatot replied, stuttering quietly.

“That’s right,” Wigglytuff said calmly, a tiny smile manifesting itself across his large face. “You’ve been rather cranky lately, Chatot. Is there anything you’d like to talk to me about?”  
“No sir, I-“  
“Oh, come on, don’t play dumb with me. You can tell me anything Chatot.”

Chik had a life outside of the Guild and its proceedings, so she didn’t have time to be amused even when Chatot himself was being scolded… well, if you could call whatever the Guildmaster was doing to get something out of him “scolding.”

“Um, sir? May we take our leave now?” Chik inquired to the large, pink Pokémon that was their Guildmaster. Wigglytuff’s gaze immediately shifted to Chik and Lombre.  
“Well, I suppose you’ve had enough. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure this ol’ meanie Chatot understands that it’s wrong to harass our guild’s members.”

Chatot, now shaking, started to murmur a reply. “I’m-m so sorry sir, I-”

A sizable amount of commotion was heard from above, and within a few seconds, a large, blue body made its way down the ladder. Chik recognized it as her partner, but couldn’t think of why he was so out of breath, or sweaty. Also, where was his cast? And why was he out of bed?

 

The large form that was Jawey paused to take a few rapid breaths, before standing straight and addressing the Guildmaster.

“Sir, I-We’ve seen some huge ships, we think, off the horizon, coming straight for Treasure Town.” Jawey paused again to catch his breath. A month out of action can do a lot to a man. “I’ve left Toxicroak, Dugtrio, and his son to await their arrival-“

Just then, a brown head spontaneously popped out of the ground.  
“Hey everyone,” Diglett exclaimed, “I don’t know if Mr. Jaws here explained it to you yet, but-"

Jawey shot him a glance. “Yes, boy, we’re in the middle of discussing it.”  
“Uh, sorry, Mr. Jawey.” Diglett glanced away for a few moments. “Well, the ships got a little closer but they stopped. They sent out a few smaller really fast ships and they’re approaching the beach now.”

The beach. There was a small port there that could support at most 9 or so smaller trading vessels, but it was nothing like Lively or Caprim City had. 

Jawey was about to say something, but the Guildmaster enthusiastically beat him to it.

“Very well, we shall honor these visitors with the friendliest Treasure Town welcome!”


	3. New Visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this adventure. Chapter Four should be coming relatively shortly after this. I was on vacation for a bit and I didn't have time to continue re-drafting, but Chapter Four should be out soon!
> 
> -OrangeCitrin

By this time, the Sun, held up high in the clouds, had caked all of Treasure Town in its warm embrace. As they emerged from the coolness of their familiar Guild, Chik, Jawey, Lombre, Chatot, and Wigglytuff were greeted by a balmy, almost perfect day. 

As they all followed Jawey down to the beach for a better look, Chik gazed in awe at the calm blue expanse for the second time that morning. Jawey wasn’t kidding; these four ships were massive, larger than any seafaring vessel she had seen, though they had seemingly stopped moving. Beams of sunlight descended from the sky between a clusters of clouds right above the fleet, almost as if some higher power had sent them down to mark this day as special. 

Proceeding down the path to the beach and wooden pier, which Chik, almost embarrassed, wished could be as large as that of Lively to accommodate these possibly exhausted mariners, the group could just make out several tiny boats, again without sails, rapidly closing the distance between the ships and the shore. Jawey paused, and Chik recognized him as precisely assessing the current situation, as was so typical of him. It was sometimes difficult for him to make a decision based on what he drew from what was happening, but that’s why they worked so well together as a pair. She liked that aspect in a leader.

“Chatot,” he commanded, “Fly up to Sharpedo Bluff and see Toxicroak. Ask him if anything has happened with the ships since I left.”  
Instead of continuing to walk after issuing that order, Jawey stayed put, expecting Chatot to resist being talked down to. When a sigh and the flutter of feathers behind the group confirmed his obedience, the group continued onward, to greet these odd, seemingly superior Pokémon. 

Chik wondered what exactly these visitors wanted. Her mind briefly ran wild with possibilities. Perhaps the Expedition Society in Lively City had not finished their so-called grand map after all, and there was some island or mini-continent just small enough to slip by unnoticed, with a technologically advanced society who had chosen to seal themselves off from the rest of the world, until now. 

Or, perhaps, it was those vicious Pinesi, that tribe to the far northeast ruled by an extended clan of Pinsir. As if subconsciously recalling her old timid ways, the Bayleef visibly shuttered. 

The five Pokémon exited the dirt path, (it ought to be paved one day, Chik thought) onto the familiar setting of Treasure Town Beach. The sand found its own path into Chik’s feet. She hated that.  
Or disliked it, at least. Throughout her life she had tried not to hate anything. 

Stepping out onto the pier, Jawey squinted at the fleet.

“Do you guys see those?” He asked, without looking back.

“See what? All I can spot are the…” In the middle of her reply, Chik noticed several black boats, incredibly small compared to the mysterious ships, each of which were briskly heading straight for the docks. She squinted her eyes furiously. Today was going to be full of surprises, wasn’t it? They were only 14 paces from front to back at most. These boats lacked sails as well. With their sleek, somewhat alarming appearance, Chik was bursting with anticipation for a possibly hostile encounter. She braced herself to use Magical Leaf. Her eyes shut, she concentrated on forming the leaf-shaped psychic projectiles with all her willpower, drawing small amounts of energy from the Pokémon of Treasure Town to form her energy “leaves”. Jawey could feel her gathering strength.  
“Hey, easy there Chik.” He chided. “We still don’t know what these people are or what their motives are. They could be friendly!”

“And that’s exactly it bonehead,” Chik replied sarcastically, “What if it’s those Pinsir again?”  
“Please Chik, don’t remind me about that...accident. I...I have a feeling it won’t be they.”

“And what makes you guess THAT?” Lombre had butted into the conversation.

Shifting from his normal public demeanor of semi-stoic confidence, Jawey hesitated. Meanwhile, a mysterious, wretched sound hit the ears of those present on the beach, which now included Chatot and Toxicroak, who were approaching the group, and a small collection of curious Treasure Town residents.

“It s-sounds like a dying Liepard!” Chatot cried.  
“It’s coming from those black things!” Lombre added.

“Come with me Chatot!” the Guildmaster’s voice permeated the auditory abomination, “Let’s get the Guild ready for our new friendly friends!” Jawey couldn’t hear if the old bird issued any objections, and the two presumably dashed back up the hill to the guild to do who knows what.

The odd black boats were only about 80 paces from the shoreline, and they were covering, if Jawey had to estimate, about nine paces every second. He could now see the figures sitting within, many of them with light tan skin, the color of sand, and most of them wearing clothes speckled with gray and dark blue, nearly blending in with the water. 

Just before the crafts made landfall he shifted his gaze to address the small gathering of Pokémon. As a senior-ranking explorer and associate of the Guild, they would process whatever he said with respect. “Listen everyone, we should treat these things, whatever they are, with respect and dignity unless they present hostile intentions. Now I want everyone to…”  
The roar of whatever propelled the tiny boats grew so close that Jawey swore the odd crafts were right next to him. Looking down from the pier and onto where the water met the sand, not ten paces in front of him did Jawey see the boats stop, the horrid cry petering off, and their occupants disembarking. 

 

At any moment, the odd tension that gripped the beach could boil. One of the creatures, presumed by Jawey to be their leader, approached, brandishing a small, silver gadget, barely larger than Jawey’s hands. It had a tiny hole on the part that was pointed at Jawey, and there appeared to be a section of similar size pointing downwards that the creature was using to grip the device. Was it a weapon? Or perhaps a gift? All of these thoughts crossed Jawey’s mind in that instant, and he stood firm as the entity slowly approached him. 

As the creature edged ever closer, less than a few paces now, Jawey swore its hands were shaking in fear. In the little time he had to, he pondered what this meant. Is it some kind of battle stance, or were these beings, despite having the resources to construct this grand flotilla, scared of him? The latter seemed more plausible, and the Feraligator relaxed his shoulders a bit to hopefully show these things that he didn’t bite. Well, he did, but only when it was necessary. 

The creature was wearing clean white garments, with some sprinkles of wetness here and there from its ride on the boat. Its body that wasn’t obscured by cloth was covered by white skin or hide, its face slightly wrinkled from age. He was barely shorter than Jawey, and the rest of his group appeared to all be roughly the same size.  
The thing’s mouth opened, and what came out was an indecipherable babble, with Jawey only being able to make out some consonants. Jawey stayed paused, not knowing how to respond. Ok, they obviously didn’t speak Poke, but surely— 

 

His thoughts were interrupted with more incomprehensible words leaving this creatures jaw, which was quite sharp, by the way, a sign of wisdom and power. Jawey was quite sensitive to that. The words repeated, louder this time, and in his peripheral vision, he noticed some of the creatures who had accompanied the leader begin to inch back to the boat, very carefully, and very quietly. Maybe he should get their attention with a smile to let these entities know that he meant no harm. Then again, that may exacerbate the confrontation.  
Alright. Take a breath or two, and focus. What should be done?

Jawey found himself paralyzed in thought. What are these things? Why are they here? What do they want with Treasure Town? He thought back to his recent nocturnal dimensional screams. Could these be the figures that had become so habituated in his recent visions? He had pondered the possibility for a short time when he had first seen the vessels, and these glossy, short, dark boats did seem to be a possible match for the odd craft his dimensional power had displayed. Jawey composed himself with a deep breath. Damn it all, why is he so hesitant to make a move? He thought he had left his nerve in the past, and yet when action was needed, he couldn’t come to a proper conclusion! Even Chik, who had been known as being somewhat timid, had gotten over many of her difficulties as a leader in the past few years. Whatever these creatures are, if they wanted to hurt the denizens of this world, they probably would have already, judging by the massive and ominously still ships now parked off the coast of his home. 

 

Staring the leading creature in the eyes, Jawey opened his maw to speak. Before he could, the world around him stopped.

A second later, the air shifted. A sort of unusual sent hit his nostrils, that of heavy smoke, the kind one would find in Lively City. He had been teleported somewhere else. In an instant, he was not standing on the beach, but instead found the familiar sensation of grass ticking his large feet. He was on a hill. Wary of some unknown psychic aggressor, Jawey entered combat stance, checking his surroundings in an attempt to recognize who, or what, brought him here. The why could come later.  
Hell, the Feraligator had been conditioned to act first and reason later through his years at the guild, though his success in acting decisively could be called into question sometimes, especially in years past. He could leave the reasoning to the nerds at the Society in Lively.  
While scanning the horizon for some unseen enemy, Jawey couldn’t stop himself from gawking at the scene before him in the valley below. Towering over him even though he was on a hilltop, grey boxes pointed menacingly to the sky. He squinted. Some of the rectangles appeared to be glassy in composition, with the Sun and lesser grey boxes reflecting off of their sides. Below them, he swear he could see tiny boxes moving along black paths, some of them in the direction of the hill. Jawey contemplated whether this would be it. Whether he would die now without ever knowing the reason why these shiny giants had plunked him off of the beach simply to attack him. Yet here he was. Even with his skill and experience, there was no way he could take on multitudes of creatures who were at least several dozen paces tall. He prepared to go all-out. This would be the end. For the honor of his team, guild, and town. 

“Relax. Those towering hulks are merely buildings.”

A terrifyingly familiar voice sounded from above him. Jawey watched in amazement as the green and orange figure of a face he had never forgotten. But how was this possible?

As his old comrade gradually descended from the air, feet hitting the ground, a flabbergasted Jawey could only mutter a dusty name thought to have been lost to time.

“G-Grovyle?


	4. Negotiations

“Yes, it is I.” It really was Grovyle, fiendish smirk and all.  
“What is this place?”

“This is simply an illusion, conjured by The One to get you reacquainted with your homeland and to impose a burden on you. We’re in a time bubble. The outside world has frozen; this entire meeting will proceed in an instant and no one will see or hear what I am about to ask of you. The One has apologized in advance that this meeting could not have been arranged earlier, but you needed to come into contact with anything conjured by Him to override to effects of the Dimensional Scream and establish communications.”

Jawey furrowed his forehead in consternation.  
“Wait, so does that mean you’re not real? None of that made much sense at all.”

“No, I am really here. The One needed someone you recognized and trusted to deliver His master plan discreetly.”

Jawey’s eyes lit up.  
“So that means you’re alive! How’s the future? What happened after you dived into the portal with Dusknoir? How’s Celebi?” He added one more question before Grovyle could reply. “Who is this ‘One’ you keep referring to?”

“They are well, do not worry. After we got back, we journeyed together and overthrew the tyranny of Primal Dialga.” Grovyle made a shooing motion with his hand. “That, of course, is not what I am here to discuss. Perhaps if all goes well and you are dedicated in your task, The Almighty One will allow us to meet on better terms, but for now, you have been brought here to discuss the humans and how they should be dealt with.”

All Jawey could do was stare. Stare at the good friend before him and take in this surreal landscape of glassy towers and odd moving boxes. 

“Excuse me,” he asked, “but did you say, humans? Real actual humans? Those creatures are humans? My own flesh and blood?” This was a lot to absorb. “What was ‘conjured’? Did your master, or whoever you’re working for now, kidnap humans from some secret location?” This didn’t make sense. The entire world had been mapped out by now; a group of creatures rumored only to exist in ancient lore should not have had anywhere to hide for this long.  
Grovyle nodded his head calmly through all of this.

“Yes, the humans have, by The Will of The Almighty One been sent to this plain of existence, but before you become lost in contemplation, I should explain an important piece of information to you.”

Jawey’s gaze focused squarely on the Wood Gecko Pokémon. He braced for whatever he was about to receive.  
“You see, there are multiple worlds, or dimensions, where humans exist. There is this one, where they disappeared ages ago and now are only brought here to prevent some great calamity, as you were.”  
The excited and agitated Feraligator nodded briskly. Grovyle continued in his deep yet welcoming voice.

“And then, there is one where humans and Pokémon coexist. They get along quite well there for the most part and the humans use them for tasks such as hard labor or generating electricity to power homes. I’m assuming you’re familiar with the latter concept?

Jawey nodded. Come to think of it, when Sunflora came back from vacation in Lively City a bit less than a year ago, she had nagged Wigglytuff and Chatot into bringing electricity to Treasure Town; the first electrical lamps were due to be installed two months from now. 

“Alright then, that Dimension is not important for today’s discussion as most of the humans that come to our world do not come from there. These humans that you have encountered today, will the blessing of The One, are from the third dimension. They are from the world where only humans exist and us Pokémon are nothing but legends, if the Almighty One’s understanding is correct. Even It has very little influence in affairs over there.”

Grovyle stopped briefly to clear his throat and let Jawey take all the information in. Before he could begin yet again, Jawey interjected with a burning inquiry.  
“So wait, who is this ‘One’ you keep referencing?”

“Arceus, of course, The One who created this dimension and the one where Pokémon and Humans coexist.”

Of course, he claimed. When Jawey had scaled Destiny Tower some years back, the rumored lair of this “all-powerful god,” he had only seen a statue and a relic that heightened his power somewhat, which was most likely still buried somewhere in Team Jaw’s home in Sharpedo Bluff. He made a mental note to look for it once he had completed whatever task he was being assigned here and relations with the humans had been normalized.

Grovyle went on. “As I was explaining, one of the last interactions The One had with the purely human plane was in bringing you over to this world’s grim future.”  
The Feraligator’s heart stopped for a breath. He hadn’t been from this world after all? He briefly pondered the implications of this bombshell of information. Were humans only folktales in this dimension because they were only brought over here during calamities, as the old legends suggested, or was there actually some sort of ancient human society (or perhaps multiple societies?) that had prospered in the Air Continent, as his and Dr. Mawile’s research had hypothesized? He figured that now it was simply better to listen to what Grovyle’s, and by extension Arceus’s, supposed task for him was regarding humanity.

“Surprised, no? I too was quite floored when The One Itself emerged from reclusion and sent Celebi and I to guide this chosen human in aiding the frozen future.”  
“I-I…” Jawey refocused himself on the interaction at hand. “So, uh, what exactly is my job now?”

“Your mission is to find the other groups of humans that were sent here and either destroy them or figure a way to send them back.”  
Other humans? The situation really was getting crazy, wasn’t it!

“These other marauding humans appeared some months ago far to the North, I was told, and The One believes that either some malignant entity or long-forgotten prophecy sent them there. The One isn’t sure which is the case, so you have to gather up all the available resources the Guild and the other exploration and research institutions around the world have gathered over the years. You and Team Jaws must, as The One has chosen you, coordinate an effort to decrypt the enigma behind this sudden appearance of humans.”  
“Well wait,” the Feraligator piped up, “How do we know these humans have harmful intentions?” He couldn’t personally recall any humans who would do such a thing in this day and age, except in Africa or the Indies, maybe. Wait… how could he have known that?

Grovyle sighed, and then chuckled a tad. “You never let me finish, even when you were still a human. I was about to explain that these other humans have been… associating… with dangerous Pokemon since they arrived. When they first appeared, they extorted nearby villages in the upper Grass Continent and eastern Air Continent out of food and money in order to sustain themselves, like common pirates. They have even befriended the Hasckaans and the Pinesi, groups which The One is sure you have heard of.”  
Jawey visibly flinched at the mention of the latter name. He swore that he saw an odd gleam of light from the Wood Gecko Pokemon’s eyes.

“Unfortunately, since The One does not know much of human affairs and cannot properly advise you on human society and weaponry, he has sent these humans, the one’s which you are now encountering, to give you an edge in identifying the invaders, or brigands, or whatever you may call them, as well as to give you an edge in technology and combat.”  
Combat? From what he had heard about his race, Jawey had assumed that most humans could barely compare to the martial prowess of a Machop. Martial? Where had he learnt that word? The concept of a ‘war’ had been explored only through minor bouts between tribes and groups, and large standing armies were nonexistent, unless one counted the hordes of the savage Pinesi. He had been so lost in thinking to himself yet again that he hadn’t noticed Grovyle putting a palm to his chest.

“These are…” The stoic brother figure was holding tears now, “These are your memories; t-they should also help in countering anything the dangerous ones may try to throw at you.” He paused to swallow, choking back his emotions. Jawey had never seen Grovyle like this. “You may n-not have noticed it, b-but the influence of The One’s powers has slowly influenced your thinking while you have been present in this bubble…” 

Grovyle cleared his throat. “This is to prepare you for…” He stopped and wiped his long, green face, a bit coarse and slightly wrinkly from years of exhaustive heroism. “This is to prepare you for receiving your humanity back. It’s to ensure you won’t collapse from shock as soon as time is resumed. I will present to you all memories in your possession from before the night Darkrai ambushed us through the energy Arceus has granted me for this. You may feel a bit shocked, but this should not hurt” He readied a Force Palm.  
“G-Grovyle..” 

“I will be your liaison in the field once the humans get settled in. I will see you then, old pal.” The hint of a grin materialized, but Jawey had difficultly seeing it, as his own eyes began to water. The scars of old would be jarred open.

The hit connected with the Feraligator’s abdomen. His ancient experiences, his encounters, his desires, his conquests, his attitudes, his loves, they all started flowing back to his mind even faster than they had in the past few moments. His body suddenly felt heavy, bloating with the burden of recollection. It was the same feeling he had when his soul was taken just after he had become the Savior of Time ages ago. That was a heart-wrenching day, but in those few instances, as he remembered how humans acted, how cruel they could be, he began to join his friend in weeping.

“Hey buddy,” He called out, as light engulfed him, “How come you haven’t evolved yet, huh?” He swore he could hear laughter from his oldest partner.

 

He had returned. There were no tears; his face had dried and returned to a normal expression without him even realizing it. The commander was still in the middle of barking something.  
“Just stand back! Just-I don’t think this is going to work, prepare to disembark!”

Jawey stepped forward. The barrel of the 1911 was inches away from his chest. His large maw almost grazed the officer’s hat.

“Greetings, sir. My name is John.” Perfect English. Any whispering from behind him had been whisked away by an awed silence.

“I see you’re with a navy. I’m assuming that you’re all Americans?” Not as perfect. He slurred a bit on the last few words, still getting used to this new tongue that was completely alien to him until now.

The officer stood there, this time held still by pure astonishment rather than apprehension. After four blurry seconds, he nodded in confirmation.

“Alright, just so you know I’m probably the only one here who can communicate with you. I’m also one of the only people here who knows a lot about humanity. I don’t know the exact circumstances of how you were transported here, but I can try to explain our situation as best as we can and how we may be able to get you home. I’ll bring you to the Guildmaster, our leader. Come.”

Only the captain budged at first. “Follow me!”  
Comedically, it appeared that using the humans’ own skepticism and fears of what was essentially a giant blue crocodile against them would work.

Jawey, or John as he was know to the humans now, motioned for the crowd to spread. He wanted to get past this and get to the Guild as quickly as possible. 

“Hey, Toxicroak!” he bellowed. No response. “Hey Toxicroak, open your ears!” The navy blue squishy body of the guild member flowered from the masses.  
“Keep this crowd under control! I’m going to take these things to the Guild!”

Jawey hoped he acknowledged that. The Feraligator also motioned for Lombre and Chik to follow him, which, after linking up with him near the exit of the swarm, they did. Overwhelmingly, at the end of the beach waiting for the visitors and their new guides were two Magnezone and several Magnetons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a bit longer than promised, had to work out finer details of the chapter so that later parts of this will make sense.


End file.
